Java fernlets not growing

1056 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by queijoman, Nov 3, 2008

queijoman

Discussion Starter · Oct 30, 2008

Hi,

I have a very simple setup,
30 Gallon
20W plant light
~10 fish,
1 large java fern,
1 anubia
1 red sword
1 baby tears (not a very happy one)
no co2. Lightly-Lighly-Lightly fertilizing with standard houseplant fertilizer.

I have a medium sized java fern that I purchased ~6 months ago. It was pretty ugly but has since replaced most of it's leaves, and is looking very healthy and beautiful, and has about 1.5X the number of leaves it had when I bought. It has sprung about 8 little plantlets, ranging in size from 1/4" leaves to 1.2" leaves. My problem is, even though the main plant seems to grow slowly, the plantlets show no growth since the time of being picked from the main plant itself. Is there something I can do short of buying new lighting to help them to grow.?

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Scouter

· #2 · Oct 30, 2008

I found that with java ferns, it takes a while for them to attach and get settled in. Then it's like you turned on a switch, they just start growing a ton. When I had a bunch of plantlets, I put them in a critter keeper and set it in a window that gets a good amount of light. I would do a daily 75%-50% water change and they would take off. Then I'd move them into the larger tank when they were ready.

Hope this helps,
Scouter

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trenac

· #3 · Oct 30, 2008

Java fern is a slow grower, you are not going to see much growth in the plantletts. They where really small when you removed them from the mother plant. It is better to let them grow bigger before removing them... Do you have them planted or tied to wood or rock?

Your baby tears are not very happy because they like more light then you have. The sword may not do well either. Try sticking to lower light plants like the Java Fern & anubias you already have.

I'm not real sure how safe that house plant fertilizer is to use in your tank. I would invest in some Seachem flourish & Excel (carbon source).

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queijoman

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 3, 2008

Thank you for the replies. I tried the window thing for a while. I changed the water about 1x per week, and wound up with a lot of algae. Would the daily water change help to not get algae?

As far as location, I have one in my tank that is attached to driftwood. Each of the rest are attached to their own small rock. I guess that I need to be more patient.

I'll switch to excel and leave the houseplant fertilizer to the houseplants. Thanks

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